ALD partners with US startup Vinli for car fleet connectivity

ALD Automotive, the fleet arm of Societe Generale, has partnered with California’s Vinli to tap into the startup’s cloud technology and marketplace for connected car services.

It is the latest partnership with a tech company for the fleet provider, which has been looking to accrue its connected service capabilities as data takes central stage in fleet managers’ business model.

Founded in 2014, Vinli provides a cloud ecosystem for car drivers and fleet managers, and also manages “the world’s first” open marketplace for vehicle apps. The startup originally offered aftermarket connectivity products to consumers, but has since repositioned itself as a vendor for partners including Cox Automotive and Samsung.

“In today’s world it is no longer about just taking data from a car and reporting it to clients but using this data and the connected capabilities of the car to generate new offers for our clients.

Mark Haidar, chief executive of Vinli, added: ““We believe that the automotive industry is evolving to become a service-based and subscription-driven industry. Connected cars and data are at the epicenter of this change.

“The process of collecting, analyzing, and discovering trends from ALD Automotive’s fleets will not only be transformative to the driver but to the industry as a whole.”

ALD Automotive has made partnering with tech platforms a staple of its reinvention into a mobility company. It has partnered with France’s Mobeelity and the developer of Finland’s Whim app, among others.

Other fleet providers have also been looking to leverage data as an asset on its own, beyond single physical vehicles.

Last month, Daimler Financial Services launched an aftermarket device to turn cars of any brand into connected vehicles, and revealed plans to monetise Moovel, its Google Maps-like navigation app.

Volkswagen, meanwhile, has partnered with Microsoft to develop its cloud capabilities. The carmaker is looking to make its upcoming “ID” range of connected vehicles the basis of its future business model, with an increasingly large share of revenue coming from “light” products such as ancillary mobility services.